


This Is Great

by robertstanion



Series: PEIPHQ Shenanigans [13]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, Tooth Rotting Fluff, its fluff, theres so much fluff it's like a blanket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24577693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robertstanion/pseuds/robertstanion
Summary: John McNamara and Xander Lee live a simple life together. It's the reason John proposes.
Relationships: John McNamara/Xander Lee
Series: PEIPHQ Shenanigans [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764349
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	This Is Great

**Author's Note:**

> the title is taken from The Yellow House from Starry: A New Musical, specifically when Jeff Blim sings it. Anyway, this is my gfs birthday present, and I love her, and she loves John McNamara, and I've put them through enough, so I hope you enjoy this oneshot as much as I know she will!

John McNamara was a cool, collected general. He knew the values of his team and their individual traits. Like how Benny always acted stoned around his stoner friends with full knowledge he’d never touched a drug in his life, or how Lou was overprotective of Benny when it came to even talking about drugs. How Alex was pining for one of their Colonels to Schaffer’s lack of knowledge when it came to the sciences, so when she tries to speak to Xander about his job, they usually end up having a sarcastic fight because _no, Schaffer, Chemistry **is** a pathetic science, if you disagree you can go to hell, _to which Schaffer would reply _Xander, honey, everyone here is gay,_ we’re **_all_** _going to hell._ John would always laugh as he knew he was surrounded by the people he loved and the people who trusted him.

But most importantly, there was Xander. Colonel Xander James Lee, the man John had been dating since he was in the earlier ranks. He’d watched Xander blossom from a scared man, allowing his anxieties to get the best of him, preventing him from doing daily tasks, to Xander becoming John’s biggest inspiration when it came to his team. Xander was the reason he’d come out to the team, Xander was the reason he’d shouted about their experience at Pride in the middle of the canteen, Xander was the reason he was where he was that day. He could have easily given up and quit his job when he approached the first hurdle, but he didn’t. The reason he didn’t was because he’d never get to see Xander again. He would have, but it would have been extremely rare to see the man around Hatchetfield out of pure coincidence.

They’d become more confident as a couple, John not feeling like he had to hide behind his desk to kiss Xander, and Xander didn’t feel like he couldn’t speak about his anxiety. It was a major turning point for the two of them.

Of course, when Xander had moved in, they’d both been ecstatic. They’d come up with a miraculous plan to refurbish everything, as the furniture inside was something from the early ‘80’s era. John wouldn’t ever admit to it, but he loved his house. It was where his mentor, Wilbur Cross, had lived, and the house had been passed down to him. Wilbur had no kids, and John was the closest thing to it, and therefore, in his dying wishes, Wilbur had given John the keys, the address and enough money to see him through, and he stepped through the portal. That was before he knew Xander.

Xander had found the story amusing. He’d laughed, even though it was serious. When John asked him why he burst out laughing, he collected himself and turned to him, explaining that someone as stereotypically uptight and old fashioned like John was living in the house of his possibly dead mentor where the keys had been handed over in a spontaneous manner. John had always needed a plan, and Xander knew that. It helped with John’s anxieties when it came to new surroundings, so for the keys to suddenly be dropped in John’s hands were surprising for everyone when he’d told the rest of the group. That had been a very bad week for sensory overloads, John recalled, and he couldn’t face the new General title. He gave himself a week to calm down before he went back to work and transformed PEIP into what it was currently. Black and white colours combined with what was considered ‘modern’ in that year.

He didn’t care. He loved his job, and he loved the precinct. He _also_ loved Xander. Being able to wake up in his bedroom everyday with the love of his life beside him was something special. He always woke up with a bright feeling in his chest, and fell asleep with that knowledge he was safe and they’d both survived another day. There were sometimes bumps in the road, where one of them got injured on a mission, or when one of them was sick, and neither particularly liked being vulnerable, even when it was around each other, so to allow themselves to be cared for was a challenge they overcame. They trusted each other. That was the main part.

They shared dates as well. Sometimes they’d be cliché and go to an expensive restaurant in Clivesdale to make themselves appear well presentable and intimidating to the public over there, which worked a lot. Other times, they’d go to the Cineplex. They usually chose a movie that appeared terrible in the advertisement; sometimes the movie would be horrendous, and other times it would shock them, and John wouldn’t stop talking about it for days, allowing himself to describe the plot, the colours and the lighting within the film. He did it a lot with horror films. Xander liked to listen on the journey back home. As soon as they were through the door, John would load his laptop and research the Wikipedia page to get a full understanding of the movie to ensure his theories were correct. He’d tell Xander more information. The third kind of date they had was when they wanted time to themselves, but didn’t want to spend too much money. They’d either get take out or cook something simple, like pasta, before settling on a movie or show on Netflix. They’d curl up under blankets on their couch with a drink of their choice. They’d usually fall asleep there and wake up with aching backs. Neither particularly minded those days.

They had a backyard. It had a patio directly outside of the sliding glass doors with white slabs all around the entire right half of the grass. In between the fence and the slabs were their flowerbeds where they grew a variety of flowers, but god forbid John find a rose in the mix. John McNamara hated roses. Yes, he was all down for a semi-cliché relationship, but roses were too far. “Roses are the bastards of the flower world”, he’d often said, “the Wilbur Cross of flowers, they appear innocent and then they hurt you.” Xander laughed at him every time. One time, on Valentines day, Xander had given John yellow roses as a joke. John had accepted the ‘gift,’ _“but only because they’re yellow, Xander.”_ Xander liked to take care of the flowers more than John did. John liked lying down on the grass in the middle of the yard while Xander planted and watered. They’d gotten lounging chairs and a parasol with a table so John could lie down, but he decided more often than not that the grass was softer.

They also had fruit trees at the back of their garden. They grew their own fruits and vegetables, and with them, Xander always managed to make the most delicious meals John had ever tasted. John tried to cook, even though Xander told him not to. Every single time, without fail, John ended up nearly burning the house down. They always laughed about it.

Looking back on these times, John realised the thing they each shared in common. That thing would be how much harder John fell in love with Xander. The nights they fought, they nights they cuddled up to each other with rain lashing on the window, watching a shitty documentary on the TV in bed, where one of them said something so incredibly stupid they both stopped talking because they were consumed with laughter to the point neither could talk with full knowledge both laughs were contagious. It was the reason John was stood at the counter of a ring store, paying for the engagement ring he’d just chosen out for Xander.

* * *

John hadn’t know when he was going to propose. He’d just bought the ring and gone home. It wasn’t too complex, he knew Xander would hate that, but it was a silver band with his initials inscribed on the inside of it, something he knew Xander would like…no, _love._ He carried it around with him for several weeks, until the day finally came.

Two months, three weeks and four days since he’d purchased the ring, and it was his day off, but not Xander’s he was sitting on a chair in Xander’s lab, watching him work. Xander had gone out to get more chemicals for the project he was working on. John had his hands in his pockets, staring into space, getting caught in a daydream. He had his golden hair tied up into a ponytail because Xander had wanted to play with John’s hair, and he was in black jeans and his olive green hoodie. He had the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and his hands in his pockets. He was wearing sneakers to be more relaxed on his day off, leaning against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. He only snapped out of his daydream when he noticed Xander walk back in.

“I swear to God.” He sighed, his lab coat floating behind him, similar to a cape. John hummed and looked up, slightly dazed. Xander’s leather jacket was on the chair beside John, as was his vest. He was wearing the button up short sleeve that came with the uniform to protect himself from the chemicals, his goggles placed above his head. Xander turned around when he heard John’s reply and huffed. “How hard is it to understand that Chemistry is _strictly_ chemicals, Biology is about organisms in summary, and Physics is mathematics! _I_ am a theoretical physicist, I study _space_ and alternate dimensions! And yeah, I work with chemicals, but I’m _not_ a chemist!” he groaned and turned back to his desk, moving things out the way.

“Did you get in a fight with Schaffer again?” John smiled softly as he looked at him.

“How could you tell.” Xander said sarcastically, not a question, but a statement. John chuckled as his hand brushed over the ring box in his pocket. His breath hitched when he realised something, _now_ was the time. Quietly, he got off the chair and got down on one knee on the floor, watching Xander work before he dropped grabbed a pen from his pocket and dropped it to the floor, pulling out the ring box and opening it.

“Xander, a pen just fell on the floor. It’s over here by me.” He said.

“Oh, thank you I needed that-“ Xander said, turning round and looking at John. “What’s going on…?” he asked nervously, almost afraid to admit to himself what was going on.

John smiled up at him. “Colonel Xander James Lee, you have made my life better since the day you stepped into it. You pull me out of dark times, you care for me when I’m sick, when I’m injured…or both. You keep me sane. You let me talk to you about my current hyper fixations, you allow me to vent, you let me cry. You took me to my first Pride, you made me realise I could be myself without a fear in the world. You do so much for me at home as well. You cook, you clean and you garden. You play with my hair and you ensure I’m drinking enough water, and don’t even get me _started_ on when I’m hungover.” He said and looked back up to him. “I got this ring a few months ago when I realised you were the one. I can’t imagine spending my life with anybody else. I want to spend my life with the wacky physicist who often fights our top colonel, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. And I want to ask you something. Actually, it’s more of a statement, nope, I’m rambling because I’m nervous, it’s most definitely a question. Will you marry me?”

He hadn’t expected Xander to lift him off the floor and kiss him that way, but he did. He took the ring and put it on his hand, John’s legs wrapped around Xander’s waist. “Of course I will, John.”

**Author's Note:**

> i get most of the titles for my oneshots from my playlist called Summer 2020 because I AM THAT BASIC BITCH


End file.
